Sistema de Reserva Federal

InternacionalEconomía,

This week, two of the world's most powerful policy makers -- U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen and European Central Bank President Mario Draghi -- will explain to the public and politicians how they plan to bolster lackluster economic recoveries. At the moment, there's little new they can or will say and do.

Yellen, who will testify before the Joint Economic Committee of Congress, is in a better position in relative terms. The economy is recovering from a weather-induced slowdown, and the deep wounds inflicted by the global financial crisis are healing. Markets seem comfortable with her policies, and second-guessing from the academic community and other central bank watchers has waned.…  Seguir leyendo »

InternacionalEconomía,

Janet Yellen is just 152 cm tall and looks like a sweet old lady. How looks can be deceptive. She has just taken over as the head of the U.S. Federal Reserve System, making her the most powerful woman in the world.

Time magazine called her the “16 trillion dollar woman” referring to the size of the U.S. economy, but as the events of the last few weeks have shown, she might more correctly be called the “88 trillion dollar woman,” that being a rough calculation of the value of total gross world product, the annual value of goods and services produced worldwide, on a purchasing power parity basis.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAmérica,

The Dow Jones and Standard & Poor’s 500 indexes reached record highs on Thursday, having completely erased the losses since the stock market’s last peak, in 2007. But instead of cheering, we should be very afraid.

Over the last 13 years, the stock market has twice crashed and touched off a recession: American households lost $5 trillion in the 2000 dot-com bust and more than $7 trillion in the 2007 housing crash. Sooner or later — within a few years, I predict — this latest Wall Street bubble, inflated by an egregious flood of phony money from the Federal Reserve rather than real economic gains, will explode, too.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAméricaInternacionalEconomíaEuropaUnión EuropeaEconomía, ,

Los bancos centrales a ambos lados del Atlántico adoptaron extraordinarias medidas de política monetaria en septiembre: la tan esperada «QE3» (tercera dosis de flexibilización monetaria por parte de la Reserva Federal estadounidense) y el anuncio del Banco Central Europeo sobre la compra ilimitada de bonos de los gobiernos de los países en problemas de la eurozona. Los mercados respondieron con euforia. En EE. UU., Por ejemplo, los precios de las acciones alcanzaron máximos posrecesión.

Otros, especialmente quienes forman parte de la derecha política, se mostraron preocupados por la posibilidad de que las recientes medidas monetarias impulsen inflación en el futuro y fomenten un gasto gubernamental desenfrenado.…  Seguir leyendo »